


Sacrifices

by pincheackerman



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort/Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 01:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30064395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pincheackerman/pseuds/pincheackerman
Summary: I always thought self-sacrifice was a selfless thing. That was until I met Levi.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Levi Ackerman & Reader, Levi Ackerman/Reader, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, Nanaba/Mike Zacharias, Sasha Blouse/Niccolo
Kudos: 4





	Sacrifices

Growing up in Wall Sina, especially the Mitras District, meant absolute protection. Having the privileges just right under the King, having no fear for what was outside the walls, father the criminals that roamed underground andy on the surface, if they were lucky enough. Feeling bad that the poorest part out of all three walls was right under the King's nose, he neglected his people that resided underground. They had to pay tolls to even leave to the surface even then, they'll milk you of all your money just before you have to sign the papers.

The underground boomed in crime such as prostitution, sex and drug trafficking, gangs, murders. Women sold their bodies for money to feed themselves or their families. Levi's mother was no different. 

Kuchel was a bright woman, the only thing that fucked her over was society. She found she was impregnated by one of her clients, her brother Kenny urged her to not keep the baby but Kuchel insisted on keeping her child.

He was raised in a brothel, having to see every man his mother had sex with for money. When his mother grew ill when he was young, he stood at the corner of the room, frail legs to his chest, watching his mother's dead body lose color and weight day by day. Just as he was nearly starving to death unwilling, Kenny came along. 

Kenny took Levi under his wing, teaching him everything he knew in combat. From knife skills to brash behavior. Years passed, as one day Kenny saw a fight that sparked up with Levi. Feeling his lack of confidence in raising a child but also feeling proud of Levi that he knew everything he needed to survive. Kenny abandoned him.

As for Y/n, she was the polar opposite. Having her father be Commander in the Survey Corps, a brother in the Military Police, a smart and multi-talented sister, and a stay-at-home, lovable mother. She grew up with an expensive education, extensive training in combat by her father, and of course, she had a warm meal in her stomach every single day. 

Her mother hated the fact that she wanted to be a scout, feeling it'll be safer as an MP in Sina. Y/n wanted freedom, which sounds odd because once she exits the walls a whole new wave of danger rolls in, but she was free, no walls to trap her and no rules to pester her.

She joined the Cadet corps under an alias when she was 13, which was illegal. Due to her excellent performance, she graduated top of her class and only a year after rather than the normal three years. Since then, the only connection she had with her family was through her brother, even though he hated her guts.

That brought us down to the present, where three thugs were on their knees as Erwin tried to scare them with his rank. Y/n stood at the sidelines, as she was the only one that came up with the plan to capture the thugs and the men just took the credit as always, she wasn't interested in torturing the two men and one very young lady, she was more interested in their ability and strength. 

"Mike, that's enough," Y/n spoke up as Miche forced the raven-haired thug to a puddle of mud, Erwin wanted to humiliate them as much as possible and wanted to get under their skin.

Mike pulled his hair once more before Erwin continued on with trying to convince them to join the Scouting Regiment, wanting to take advantage of their skills, specifically the raven-haired one.

"Erwin hurry up or I'll just turn all of you in for destruction of property" Y/n spoke, the small thug had a scowl prominent on his face, in a way, she felt bad about him. Having living already in horrid conditions just to have soldiers abusing their power to humiliate and degrade them. These people have no choice, it's either this or they won't survive.

"I'm taking you're the leader. You got a name?" Erwin asked as he crouched down to be as his face level. 

He didn't hesitate per sé, he just was worried about the outcome if he told them his name and the offer was not what he wanted. 

“Levi,”.

"Well Levi, you have two choices. We give you to the Military Police in Sina, they'll be more than grateful to make your life, especially you, Levi, a living hell. Or..." Erwin looked at Y/n then back at Levi, "You join the Survey Corps. You'll be trained in killing Titans by Miche and overlooked by Hange for research purposes, Y/n over there, she'll do both but will focus more on combat and strength". 

"I'll join," he scoffed.

• • •

Within a year, Levi got the hang of things. Y/n was the only one that was calm with him and the only one he respected. During his first expedition, he lost both Furlan and Isabel. Y/n saw a whole new side of him that day as he overkilled the Abnormal Titan in a blind rage. Not frightened, just worrisome. What deep rooted hatred or fear did he have? On the surface he just seemed cold, stoic, not capable of any emotion. He trained more heavily, using a makeshift punching bag as she watched him.

| • | • |

"Three more reps," she commanded as she sat down in the corner of the dark room, the only source of light being the window. 

"Four," he insisted as he did his normal combo, two punches, one kick, three punches, two kicks. The combo seemed regular to Y/n, having it been her father's before.

Y/n had been emotionally disconnected towards men since her father died. On her 7th birthday, just as the clock struck midnight, there was a break-in in their home. She remembers her father’s throat being slit in front of her, the murderer threatened to kill her too as a way to scare her even more, he grazed the bloody knife along her skin, she always has constant nightmares of the man’s face, remembering the feeling of her fathers cold blood. Her mother grew distant and abusive after.

But with Levi, that void in her heart seemed sealed. He was calm and collected, made her laugh from all his vulgar and dark jokes he'd say every now and then, made her look at life in a whole different perspective.

Few minutes had passed, the sound of Levi's grunts and punches filled the room, it was rhythmically constant, not going faster or slower at anytime. 

"Urgent message for Captain Y/n L/n," a Cadet barged in. 

Levi stopped his punches and halted the bag as Y/n stood up and walked to the Cadet. "From whom?" She quirked an eyebrow, noticing there was no paper for a message.

"Your brother, he wanted me to inform you that-" the Cadet shook, two superiors stared at him with vacant faces, though both were shorter than him, he knew they were a great deal stronger than him, "That your mother passed away this morning. According to your brother she was found dead in her room just when the morning bells rang".

To Levi, losing people was just common to him, though each time took a toll on him, his lack of socializing and teamwork made things easier, there wouldn't be an attachment to worry about meaning Levi wouldn't feel as much pain. Having seen his mother die in front of him, never having a father figure until Kenny but even then, he abandoned him, seeing Furlan eaten in half and Isabel's head off of her body, takes a massive toll. He never had a constant in his life, people would come and go. But for Y/n, her constant was her family. She saw them whenever she could, he couldn't even imagine the things going through her head at the moment.

Her breath hitched before saying, "Thank you- For your time," she excused the cadet and slammed the door. An awkward silence filled the dimly lit room. Her hand not leaving the door until she cracked, covering her mouth and turning away from Levi. She didn't want him to see her as weak. He didn't, he saw her as the strongest person in the Corps. It takes a lot of strength to be collected during times of grief and her not letting him see her for his own sake, it took courage.

He unwrapped his hands from the ace wrap and slowly made his way to her side. A hug doesn't solve anything, nor does a small joke. 

"Just continue, I'm fine," she whimpered, she needed to be strong for him, in reality she wasn't, but she needed to be strong.

"No you're not," Levi scoffed, turning her around with his strong arms to make her look directly at him. Was it bad that he thought she was beautiful even when she was sobbing her ass off? "We all lose people. You out of all people should know that, you've been in this job for nearly 9 years". 

"Levi just continue okay? I'm not the one that needs to be looked after," she wiped her own tears and walked back to her seat, Levi obliged and wrapped his hands in new bandages. 

As he restarted his rep, he spoke. "I saw my mom die right in front of me when I was a kid. I lived with her in the brothel, seeing all those men that paid her for sex. Who knew, maybe one of the bastards ended up getting her sick. I stood there for about a week. Having no money left for food, having my sinuses plagued as her body decomposed. That was until Kenny found me and took me under his wing. He's the reason I'm good with knives and pretty much every damn thing you guys tell me to do. He left when I was a little kid, so i fought my way for money. Whether it was petty crimes to full on scaring someone permanently. One of those fights is how I met Furlan. And if it weren't for all of that, I wouldn't be here telling you that crying isn't going to solve anything and is just a waste of time," Levi opened up, to his surprise she wasn't mad at his comment at the end, mainly because it felt true.

She truly felt sorry for him. For what the universe constantly put him through. It explained his behavior and him wanting to kill Erwin. But it even let her feel more comfortable with him. Even if his advice wasn't what people wanted to hear or if his jokes hit too close to home. He was always there, as was she. And they both became each other's constant.

**Author's Note:**

> anyways this is my first ff on here! i hope you like it!


End file.
